Apple Revs Up iMac, Mac Mini
Apple is giving its iMac a bigger screen size—to 24 inches—and memory upgrade—twice the amount— without raising the price from the previous generation. The previous iteration of the iMac had a 20-inch screen and sold for $1,499.
The new 20-inch iMac, priced at $1,199, comes with a 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 duo processor, 2 GB of 1,066MHz DDR3 memory and Nvidia GeForce 9400M integrated graphics.
The newly released 24-inch iMac ups the screen size by 30 percent and kicks the processor up to a 3.06GHz Intel Core Duo 2 Processor, 4 GB of 1,066MHz DDR3 memory and a 640-GB or 1-TB Serial ATA hard drive.
In addition, customers have a choice in the type of the graphics they want to include. The choices begin with Nvidia GeForce 9400M integrated graphics, but an upgrade to the Nvidia GeForce GT 130 is available. Or, customers who really want to increase their graphics performance can choose ATI Radeon HD 4850 discrete graphics. The starting price for the 24-inch iMac is $1,499.
The Mac Mini has been the subject of upgrade rumors for quite some time. Today, Apple finally made the upgrades that have long been speculated upon. The new mini desktop measures a scant 6.5 x 6.5 x 2 inches.
The base model of the Mac Mini starts at $599 and includes a 2.0GHz Intel Core Duo 2 processor with 3 MB of shared Level 2 cache. Included is 1 GB of 1,066MHz DDR3 SDRAM, which can be expanded up to 4 GB. A 120-GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5,400 rpm is standard, and five USB 2.0 ports make for easy connectivity of peripherals. Built-in AirPort wireless and Bluetooth also come standard on the revamped Mac Mini.
Both the iMac and Mac Mini come with an assortment of prebundled software. iLife '09 is included, along with iMovie and GarageBand. Both also come prebundled with Leopard, Apple's operating system.